Architectural Control Commission

1 APPROVED 2 3 MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMISSION 4 VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 5 COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 6 October 4, 2012 7 8 9 Commissioners Present (6) 10 Alan Schwall, Chairman 11 F. Dirk Heidbrink 12 Robert Katz 13 David Menn 14 Mike Rubenstein 15 Cliff Town 16 17 Commissioners Absent (1) 18 Lori Jordison 19 20 Village Staff Present 21 Lynne Coleman, Building Official and Licensed Architect 22 Nick Desario, Assistant Director/Building and Development, Development and Planning Services 23 Corey Friedman, Electrical and Mechanical Inspector 24 Michaela Kohlstedt, Senior Planner, Development and Planning Services 25 Tom Poupard, Director, Development and Planning Services 26 William Reupert, Certified Plumbing Inspector 27 Stacy Seiden, Recorder 28 29 Additional Attendees 30 Bill Bauer, Marcello’s 31 Bill Rekus, Doyle Signs 32 33 1. Call to Order 34 Chairman Pro Tem Town called the meeting to order in the Development and Planning Services 35 Conference Room of Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane, at 5:35 PM. A quorum was present. 36 37 2. Public Comments 38 There were no comments from the public. 39 40 3. Review of Minutes 41 Commissioner Katz moved, seconded by Commissioner Rubenstein, to approve the minutes of the 42 September 13, 2012 Architectural Control Commission (ACC) meeting without corrections. On a voice 43 vote, the motion carried. 44 45 4. Design Review Permit Application 46 a. Revised Plans –1911 Cherry Lane – Marcello’s: Request for a Level III Design Review Permit for 47 a new wall sign  Page 2 Minutes of the October 4, 2012 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1 Senior Planner Kohlstedt presented the application. The ACC originally reviewed the requested wall sign 2 at its September 13, 2012 meeting. At that meeting, commissioners found the proposed sign to be too 3 large and have an excessive amount of text. Accordingly, the ACC requested that Doyle Signs, Inc., on 4 behalf of Marcello’s, reduce the height of the sign, remove the lower third portion of text from the sign, 5 and shorten the width of the sign to fit better on the façade. The applicant made the necessary changes 6 and submitted a revised plan for ACC review. 7 8 The revised proposal still calls for the installation of a new wall sign on the north façade of the Meadow 9 Shopping Plaza facing Cherry Lane. The sign would be located on the taller element on the east side of 10 the façade. The revised sign consists of an internally illuminated box sign stating “marcello’s 11 RESTAURANT & PARTY ROOMS.” The text would be white on a burgundy background, similar to the 12 originally proposed sign. 13 14 The proposed sign is a total of 52-square feet, which is a reduction of 29.17-square feet from the 15 previous sign. The applicant reduced the total height of the sign face from almost 9-feet to 6-feet and 16 reduced the width so that the sign now fits between the two darker stripes on the façade, as requested 17 by the commission. 18 19 The proposed sign complies with the Zoning Code sign height requirement and, combined with the 20 existing Chase Bank sign, also complies with the allowable total sign area for the façade. The Village will 21 issue a sign permit only after issuing a Design Review Permit, following ACC review and approval by the 22 Board of Trustees. 23 24 Upon determining that the proposed wall sign met relevant design guidelines, Commissioner Katz 25 moved, seconded by Commissioner Menn, to recommend approval of the September 17, 2012 26 application for a Level III Design Review Permit for 1911 Cherry Lane. On a voice vote, the motion 27 carried. 28 29 5. Continued Review of 2012 International Residential Code and Necessary Local Amendments 30 The ACC reviewed chapters 1 and 2, as well as part of chapter 3 of the 2012 International Residential 31 Code and possible local amendments. Specific comments were as follows. 32 33 Chapter One – Scope and Administration 34 35 Section R101 General 36 37 R101.1 Title 38 Supported the existing local amendment to insert the Village of Northbrook, Cook County, 39 Illinois as appropriate. 40 41 Section R102 Applicability 42 43 Work on possibly adding relevant language to R102.4.1 Differences and R102.4.2 Provisions in 44 referenced codes and standards. 45 46 Section R103 Department of Building Safety  Page 3 Minutes of the October 4, 2012 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1 This section may need to be tweaked, as the Village does not have a Department of Building 2 Safety. 3 4 Section R104 Duties and Powers of the Building Official 5 6 R104.8 Liability 7 The Village attorney will review this language for possible changes. 8 9 R104.10.1 Flood hazard areas 10 Delete, as variances of flood hazard regulations are in the Zoning Code and not within the 11 purview of the building official. 12 13 Section R105 Permits 14 15 R105.2 Work exempt from permits 16 The ACC discussed whether it was an efficient use of Village resources to require permits for 17 decks, particularly for those not more than 30-inches above grade and not attached to a 18 dwelling. 19 20 Member Rubenstein commented that a foundation (including placement and height) permit, 21 rather than a structural permit, should be required for sheds that do not exceed 200-square 22 feet. 23 24 The commission discussed the possibility of providing homeowners who are interested in 25 building a deck with a standard set of relevant construction details that the Village perceives as 26 important. Commissioners also discussed advising homeowners to pay contractors following 27 inspection. 28 29 Commissioners discussed the importance of the Village not making “idle threats,” thereby 30 undermining its credibility. 31 32 It was agreed that staff will research the permit exemptions, inspection requirements, and 33 enforcement practices of other local communities. 34 35 Retain items 1-5 under “Electrical.” 36 37 R105.3.1.1 Determination of substantially improved or substantially damaged existing buildings in flood 38 hazard areas 39 Review this language in light of existing standards in the Flood Hazard Overlay District and 40 Engineering Standards Manual. 41 42 R105.3.2 Time limitation application 43 Review to determine if the Municipal Code should be cross-referenced. The ACC authorizes 44 permit extensions. 45 46 R105.5 Expiration  Page 4 Minutes of the October 4, 2012 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1 Review to determine if this language should be amended. 2 3 Section R106 Construction Documents 4 5 R106.1 Submittal documents 6 Ms. Coleman perceived the existing local amendment as still necessary. 7 8 R106.1.3 Information for construction in flood hazard areas 9 Review this language in light of the existing standards in the Floor Hazard Overlay District and 10 Engineering Standards Manual. 11 12 Section R107 Temporary Structures and Uses 13 14 R107.1 General 15 Review this language to determine how to address items such as construction and sales trailers 16 and compare with mobile classrooms. 17 18 Section R108 Fees 19 20 R108.5 Refunds 21 A Village policy does exist for the refund of fees. 22 23 Section R109 Inspections 24 25 R109.1.3 Floodplain inspections and R109.1.6.1 Elevation documentation 26 Review this language in light of the existing standards in the Floor Hazard Overlay District and 27 Engineering Standards Manual. 28 29 R109.2 Inspection agencies 30 Change the existing local amendment to state: “Prefabricated construction will be permitted for 31 structural faming only. A certificate of approval by a state of Illinois licensed design professional 32 shall be furnished with all engineered systems.” 33 34 Section R112 Board of Appeals 35 Delete since the ACC serves this function as established in the Municipal Code. 36 37 Section R114 Stop Work Order 38 39 R114.3 Fine 40 Add a new section authorizing the imposition of a fine for stop work orders, cross-referencing 41 the Municipal Code. 42 43 Chapter Two – Definitions 44 Retain the definition for a manufactured home to avoid regulating within a definition and add 45 other terms, such as “new construction,” to provide greater clarity.  Page 5 Minutes of the October 4, 2012 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1 Chapter Three – Building Planning 2 3 Table R301.2(1) Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria 4 Retain and update (e.g., change “Winter Design Temp” standard to “-4 F”) the table of current 5 Northbrook standards. 6 Determine the implications (e.g., height and foundation) of changing the “termite” standard to 7 “moderate to heavy.” 8 Add Deerfield to the relevant comparison table. 9 10 R301.6 Roof load 11 Rework the relevant table to reflect standard language, including “live” and “dead” loads. 12 The standard cover sheet accompanying building plans should include this information. 13 14 R303.3 Bathrooms 15 Delete the existing local amendment because the referenced materials are no longer used and 16 the amendment is not enforced. 17 18 R303.6.1 Light Activation 19 Delete the existing local amendment because this issue “never comes up” in the field. 20 21 R303.9 Basements 22 Delete the existing local amendment because it is no longer necessary. 23 24 Section R306 Sanitation 25 Delete this entire section because the section is redundant with the Illinois Plumbing Code. 26 27 Section R307 Toilet Bath and Shower Spaces 28 Retain this section because the Illinois Plumbing Code does not address these spacing issues. 29 30 R308.4 Hazardous locations 31 The existing local amendment has already been repealed. 32 33 R309.1 Opening protection 34 Delete the existing local amendment because the recent fire sprinkler requirements render the 35 amendment unnecessary. 36 37 R309.2 Separation required 38 Retain, and possibly simplify, because a new garage may be added on to an existing home. 39 40 6. New Business 41 Member Katz inquired about establishing a new sign ordinance in order to create greater uniformity 42 among the business signs in Northbrook. Director Poupard noted that only one shopping center, Village 43 Square on the corner of Skokie Boulevard and Lake Cook Road, in Northbrook required tenant signs to 44 meet certain requirements.  Page 6 Minutes of the October 4, 2012 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1 Member Katz articulated the need for “some kind of controls” of business signs, observing that other 2 communities had “appearance commissions” with the authority to limit the type and amount of text on 3 signs. Commissioners generally agreed that the ACC needed “teeth” or greater authority in reviewing 4 proposed signs and perhaps in other building and construction areas, as well. Oftentimes, the 5 commission is limited to making recommendations, which the Board may or may not approve. 6 7 Director Poupard commented that certain regulations did apply to signs in the Village Green Overlay 8 District, including that such signs not be overly descriptive. He suggested that commissioners consider 9 the scope of the ACC, including the possibility of commissioners serving as arbiters and expanding their 10 design control, as part of their current code review and present their recommendations to the Board as 11 an “omnibus package.” 12 13 7. Old Business 14 There was no old business. 15 16 8. Adjournment 17 There being no further business a motion was made, seconded, and adopted to adjourn the meeting. 18 Chairman Schwall adjourned the meeting at 8:40 PM. 19 20 Respectfully submitted, 21 22 /s/ Stacy J. Seiden 23 Recorder